Flight Cancelled? Google Wants to Prevent You From Having a Meltdown. A new feature within Google Now offers users the ability to 'Find alternate flights' in the event of cancellation or delay.

By Geoff Weiss

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

For business travelers, delayed or cancelled flights demolish long-anticipated meetings and can throw entire days into disarray. But new predictive technology courtesy of Google aims to stop airport meltdowns in their tracks and provide succinct alternatives with the mere tap of a smartphone.

The company announced this week on its travel blog several new features for Google Now including a "Find alternate flights" link that automatically appears when flights are delayed or cancelled. The tool derives this information based on flight confirmations within users' Gmail accounts.

Additionally, the search giant is rolling out other features to diffuse a host of travel anxieties -- including weather tracking, recommendations for restaurants at travel destinations, traffic estimates en route to airports and flight status information in real time.

Related: Siri's Founders Are Building Viv -- the Personal Assistant Siri Should Have Been

Furthermore, Google Now can display boarding passes for certain airlines automatically. And upon arrival at one's destination, the service provides directions to car-rental centers and hotels.

In order to use these features, however, "you have to be comfortable with giving Google permission to sift through your Gmail account to get all the necessary details," reports The Wall Street Journal. Users must also enable Google Now, which is basically a personal assistant tool within the Google Search mobile app and on Chrome.

For now, the features are only available to Android users. While Google Now is available within the Google Search app for iOS, Google Now is built into the operating system of many Android devices themselves.

Related: All-Knowing Google to Roll Out Geographically-Triggered Shopping Alerts

Geoff Weiss

Former Staff Writer

Geoff Weiss is a former staff writer at Entrepreneur.com.

Editor's Pick

Related Topics

Side Hustle

Anyone Can Start a Passive Income Side Hustle For Easy Money — But Only If You Know These 5 Essential Tips First.

The rise of digital automation technology has made starting a passive income side hustle easier and more accessible than ever before.

Growing a Business

Grief, Death and Entrepreneurship — 6 Useful Ways to Manage Loss While Growing A Business

Grief is inevitable. Everyone has or will experience grief in life, business and relationships and everyone grieves differently.

Side Hustle

He Launched His Creative Side Hustle Out of a Garage. Now It's Worth $225 Million.

Tom Humble, CXO and founder of E.C.D. Automotive Design, followed his passion for custom auto design into big business.

Growing a Business

Transform Your Sales Team and Generate a Steady Stream of Revenue Using This Proven Framework

Building a reliable sales machine is vital to win in a complex business environment. Here are some tips on how to do it successfully.

Business News

This Company Promised to Transform Drive-Thrus With AI — But the Secret Powering Its Tech? Humans.

Presto Automation Inc., one of several major players in AI-ordering tech, has made headlines for using off-site employees in places like the Phillippines.

Marketing

Don't Just Babble on LinkedIn — You Need to Carve Out Your Own Niche. Here's Why.

To ultimately unlock the full potential of your LinkedIn experience, you need to establish yourself as a thought leader in a specific niche. This is why (and how).